Life's Little Gift

Happy Mothers Day! 

This is a picture of me and my Mom. 

I must be in the 6 or 7th grade here. 

I was wearing Chip and Pepper. 

We were in the mall and I probably had to beg my Mom to take these with me. 

I know that the machine spits out 4 pictures. 

I wonder what happened to the other two. 

This is one of me and my "other" Mother. 

She has been in my life forever and as long as I remember. 

This picture is from my wedding 7 years ago. 

I look so young and fresh. 

I didn't have kids. 

I had time to focus on me. 

I had time to sleep. 

Time to read, rest, think, do things one at a time instead of 10 things at once at full speed. 

Kids make you crazy. 

Kids also make you love.

Deeply.

They ask you lots of questions. 

They make you think. 

They remind you to laugh and giggle. 

Sometimes they even remind you to slow down.

Sometimes...

They make you a very extra special breakfast prepared all by them (and some help from Daddy) to remind you that it is the simple things that matter. 

Time together.

They remind you to observe more, play more and play dress up more.

They remind you to explore and create. 

Brunch this year was at my sisters. It was also her birthday. 

Sister was turning older...didn't matter though.

She had the best present of all already.

This sweet soul with eyes that follow her every move and smiles that remind her how powerful and big love can truly be.

All wrapped up in it here.

You watch them as they grow. Each day faster. 

Changing.

Right before our eyes. 

We try for a four generation shot...

Think we got a few.

I love old hands and I love baby fingers. 

This shot is magical. 

And I love the closeness of this one.

Going in for the big smooch. 

The guys cooked. 

Fancy egg tartlets with turkey bacon and garden chives...

Grandpa prepares the Mimosas 

Then we feasted...

It was perfect. I mean...look at the size of that croissant! 

We rolled ourselves away from the table and took some more pictures...

Trying for the Mother shot here...

Baby H was not so into it as you can see...

So we gave up and moved on. 

Great Grandma and her little birdies...

Perfectly imperfect I think. 

Natural and real. 

Captured the moment entirely.

So happy that I captured this one of my Grandma. 

She amazes me with her wisdom and desire to learn.

Her will to keep moving forward and remain bright. 

Plus she always rocks the best shades! 

99 this October people! 

The family lounged while I caught a quiet moment...

To reflect.

Wonder. 

Remember. 

Her. 

Our Kate. 

Her spirit lives on in everyone's hearts and pink garden blooms. 

Reminding us that we must be present and live intentionally everyday. 

That relationships with others are truly life's gift.

They are the light that bring us all together.

Together. 

Me and my babies. 

I took this one on the way home in the car...

Instagram. 

Sure I look older and not as fresh...a few more wrinkles, but I also have so much more love and gratefulness in my heart than ever before. 

I am learning to slow down and observe. 

I am learning to remember moments and to be in them also.

I am learning to reflect and wonder. 

To sit and play as well as inspire and guide. 

To practice self care and to also give my everything. 

These are the battles and I face everyday as a Mother and a person.

Thankfully I have these two to help remind me of what it is all really about...

and 

 I 

love 

it. 

- E

Roy G Biv

Well well well...it has been a long time. I've been busy and working and baking and cooking and visiting and traveling and baking and cooking and playing and 2nd yr birthday party planning.

I decided to bake a special cake for baby A's 2nd Birthday...

Not any cake.

A Rainbow cake.

7 layers.

7.

I wanted to be exact in my measurements so I pulled this tape measure out. 

To measure the pans. 

Pretending like I knew what I was doing. 

That was fun. Cause I didn't. 

Thank-you Pinterest! 

Thank-you eggs, butter, milk and boxed cake mix. 

I cheated. 

There. 

Said it. 

Thank-you whirly machine.

For mixing up some think velvet batter that I almost spooned into my mouth...almost. 

Thak-you bowls. 

I used lots of bowls. 

7. 

And these gel colors from Micheals were amazing. I hate red though. It has to be the hardest colour to get right. 

And it has that bitter taste. 

Like the taste of that "Stop Biting Your Nails" polish we all tried back in high school. 

The rest were easy and I used very little to achieve fantastic results. 

I placed them in the pans and cleaned and buttered and floured and poured and cooked and cleaned and...well...you get the picture. 

7 times. 

Took me all afternoon. 

Then I chopped more butter. More and more and more for the buttercream icing. 

Used the candy thermometer. 

That was fun. 

Felt like a pro or something. 

Sacrificed a lot of eggs for their whites. 

Took on a fabulous assistant. 

She likes butter...lets just leave it at that. 

Darn she's cute. 

More whirly and pacing. More pacing and whirling. Waiting. 

Then...

My perfectly imperfect Rainbow cake. 

I could have made another batch of buttercream icing to cover it better and have it look prettier, but it was 10pm. I'd already used 2 to get it to this point. 

Plus I was out of eggs. 

I do love my paper bunting. 

I love my homemade with love Rainbow Cake. 

Wait until you see the inside. 

That is the best part. 

The funnest part. 

I know that's not a word. 

But it is really appropriate in this case. 

It is the funnest ever. 

We will get into that later...

Rainbows everywhere. 

I wanted colour and I wanted fun. So Rainbows it was...

I had some time so I took out my camera and tried a mini shoot. 

Sometimes it just works...

And things just click. 

For a little bit anyway. 

Then it was time for a little snack on the patio. 

That dress (from Auntie Christie) was so beautiful and she loved it. 

We all did. 

Thank-you again. 

I roamed around with the camera to get shots of the decorations...I am not a theme person...but this theme was too hard not to love. 

Have to have clouds to make rain and rain to make rainbows! 

Mr.Man made these and did some fancy knots to hang them. 

Shhhhhhh....don't tell. 

These crepe paper streamers made me smile. 

They simulated life. 

Colourful, crooked, bent, lapping, touching, warm and loving. 

Love this photo. I may make a canvas out of it for the playroom. 

Here they are hanging from the ceiling. 

Then I pulled out all the dishes. 

The more colourful the better.

I still have all the decorations up. 

I'm not procratinating. I just love the feeling they give. 

Even the tulips have stayed. Cheering up the gloomy rainy days...

Of course there were yummy snacks in colourful little bowls...

Strawberry lemonade with mint from the garden...

Yummy addictive tortilla chips...

and lunch. 

Mr.Man made the mini burgers served in ciabatta buns. 

They had chorizo in them. 

And double smoked bacon. 

Word.

Bacon.  

Nanny brought some greek salad with fresh oregano from her garden.

I experimented with fruit Kabobs. 

(Loving the pyrex)

Mom brought the balloons. 

Little A loved the balloons. She is rolling on one here...

Static hair. 

This next one is my favourite. So free, so fun, so absorbed in play...

Of course there were wonderful guests too! 

Grandma T. 

Born 97 years before Little A. 

She is unbelievable.

 She is inspirational. 

She was here to celebrate. 

We are so blessed. 

We are also blessed with this little chubby cheeked kiddo.

Baby H is all dressed up. 

Mommy encourages him to sit. And he rolls with it. 

Grandma gets a few goo goos. 

and i get eye contact! 

Grandpa gets him sitting and then they all jump in. 

You think the 5 year old would at least look. 

Baby H is almost done. He looks like he's gonna blow. 

Someone wanted to take charge.

 I think it was seeing Nico's boots on instagram. 

Why do they grow up in one day?

One day, this time in her life will be a distant memory...

until then I'll just hang on...

enjoy the giggles. 

Soon it was present time...

and sticker time. It's always sticker time for little A.

Special handcrafted time. 

Thank-you again Nanny. 

This is just perfect for our little A. 

And so were these! 

I die. 

So adorable. 

This was her favourite though by far. 

She loves it. 

Plays with it every day. 

Every day. 

A bike from Mommy and Daddy. 

She loves it almost as much at the helmut. 

Then it was cake time. 

Wasn't sure about the 2 sparkler. Kinda scared actually. 

So I jumped in and reassured her. 

She got right into it. 

The Rainbow was here!!!

I cried. 

Well...not really, but I was so relieved that it worked out! 

 If I do it again...wait. 

I am not doing that again. 

But it just looks so awesome!!

Vibrent and colourful...like our little A. 

She was so tired here...no nap. Daddy put her down and then...

had a nap himself. 

Poppa and Big E built a little wooden plane. E was in heaven. 

And I did another little spontaneous photo shoot of this handsome fella. 

He is cute. 

So cute.

 So good and easy going. 

So styling. 

Look at those eyes. 

There is something deep in there...wise and wonderful. 

Babies are like that. 

Especially if they are your baby. 

You could look into them for hours.

Cousins. Boys. Pals. Buds. 

Big and little. 

So much to teach each other one day. 

Then the day folded away and the kids went to bed (after an impromptu dance party) and Mommy and Daddy crashed. 

Happy 2nd Birthday little A. 

You are the light in our lives and the rainbow in our hearts. 

-E-